The present invention relates to lubrication systems, and in particular, to a deaerator for a lubrication system.
Certain lubrication systems function in a way that allows air to enter and be mixed with flow of lubricating liquid. Because it can be undesirable to have air in the lubricating liquid, deaerators are often used to separate air from lubricating liquid. For example, in gas turbine engines, lubrication systems typically use a deaerator to separate a scavenged mixture of air and lubricating liquid and to return the lubricating liquid to a reservoir for later use. It is desirable for the deaerator to supply the lubricating liquid to the reservoir with few or no air bubbles entrained in the lubricating liquid.
However, if the lubricating liquid leaves the deaerator at a relatively fast speed, that flow of lubricating liquid can agitate the surface of the lubricating liquid already in the reservoir, undesirably adding air bubbles to the lubricating liquid. A deaerator can be designed large enough that the lubricating liquid moves relatively slowly when it leaves the deaerator, but a large deaerator adds undesirable weight and also takes up valuable space.